Hurricanes hit short term US asphalt demand

: Oil products
24/10/08

Paving demand remains muted in the southeastern US following Hurricane Helene in September and ahead of Hurricane Milton expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.

Some asphalt plants in Florida were heard shutting down ahead of Hurricane Milton. Ports on Florida's Gulf coast from Tampa to Fort Myers also closed today at 8am ET.

And in North Carolina, market participants expect paving work to be pushed to future dates as search and rescue operations continue in the wake of severe flooding cause by Helene.

Recent heavy precipitation in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia has also affected near-term demand. Parts of each state received 10-15 inches of rain over the past two weeks, according to the National Weather Service.

Retail asphalt prices in Tampa, Jacksonville, Atlanta, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Southeast Virginia declined by $5/st to $15/st on 4 October.

Longterm demand will likely be supported by federal emergency relief funding with budgets for state departments of transportation most likely unaffected by repair costs, according to some market participants.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released $100mn in funding to North Carolina for roads and bridges damaged by Hurricane Helene, $2mn to South Carolina and $32mn to Tennessee, according to FHWA press releases.

By Cobin Eggers

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24/12/16

Viewpoint: Asia bio-bunkers to gain from EU regulations

London, 16 December (Argus) — New regulations in Europe should support Asian demand for marine biodiesel in 2025. The scope of emissions covered under the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) will rise to 70pc next year from 40pc this year, and this will be accompanied by the introduction of the FuelEU Maritime regulations at the turn of the year. FuelEU Maritime requires a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of fuels by 2pc in 2025 and up to 80pc by 2050, against a 2020 baseline level of 91.16 grammes of CO2 equivalent (gCO2e) per MJ. These upcoming regulatory changes in Europe should support buying interest for marine biodiesel blends because biofuels compliant with the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED) will have a zero CO2 emissions factor under the ETS next year. And waste-based biodiesel produced from feedstocks such as used cooking oil (UCO), which typically provide higher GHG emissions against fossil comparators under RED than crop-based biofuels, will be a viable alternative for many shipowners looking to reduce the GHG intensity of their conventional vessels. The regulations will not only support demand for marine biodiesel in Europe. They encompasses various flexibility mechanisms, aimed at supporting shipowners in meeting the required reductions, including a system that allows two or more vessels to create a pool in which compliance can be achieved across all vessels within the group as long as the total overall compliance balance of the pool is positive. Vessels operating between Asia and Europe will have half of energy consumed on those voyages subject to FuelEU Maritme regulations. The energy consumed from a marine biodiesel blend bunkered in Singapore, for example, could be mass balanced to be fully accounted for under this scope. Shipowners with vessels operating on the east-west route could therefore look to bunker marine biodiesel in Singapore or other parts of Asia, and then pool that vessel along with other vessels in their fleet that operate solely within Europe to achieve compliance using a non-European bunkered product. This dynamic will be supported by anti-dumping duties (ADD) imposed on Chinese biodiesel imports into Europe. The European Commission announced earlier this year provisional ADD measures on China-origin biodiesel and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), with definitive measures set for mid-February 2025. In anticipation of the provisional duties, exports of Chinese biodiesel to the EU fell by over 50pc to 563,440t in the first half of this year compared with the same period of 2023. At the same time, exports of Chinese biodiesel to Singapore hit a monthly high of 16,500t in August, which was mainly attributed to marine biodiesel blends being bunkered at the port. This pushed Argus price assessments of B24 dob Singapore, a blend comprising used cooking oil methyl ester (Ucome) and very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), to an average discount of about $90/t against B30 Ucome dob ARA in August-October. The more competitive pricing led to a shift in voluntary demand for marine biodiesel blends away from the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub in northwest Europe and towards Singapore. Marine biodiesel blend sales in Singapore hit a monthly high of 116,200t in October, according to data from the local maritime and port authority. The option to bunker marine biodiesel blends in Asia to meet European regulations will not be limited to Singapore. China's Zhoushan Port Authority said it will obtain a domestic blend permit by the end of this year, which will pave the way for suppliers to provide marine biodiesel blends to local and international shipowners. By Hussein Al-Khalisy Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Libya declares force majeure at Zawiya refinery

24/12/15

Libya declares force majeure at Zawiya refinery

London, 15 December (Argus) — Libya's state-owned NOC declared force majeure at its 120,000 b/d Zawiya refinery today following clashes between armed groups near the facility. NOC said a number of storage tanks were hit, causing fires. These were subsequently brought under control, it added. Zawiya is Libya's largest operational refinery, with most of its production absorbed domestically. It runs on crude from Libya's Repsol-led El Sharara oil field. The rest of the field's crude is exported as the Esharara grade from a nearby loading terminal which forms part of the wider Zawiya complex. Any prolonged fighting and wider damage to the Zawiya complex could threaten production at El Sharara, particularly if exports are forced to stop. Zawiya exported 160,000 b/d of Esharara crude last month, according to Kpler, and is scheduled to load eight cargoes also worth about 160,000 b/d in December. Political instability has led to several forced shutdowns of oil production facilities over the past decade or so. El Sharara only just returned to production in early October following a forced outage which also affected other fields throughout the country. Libya produced 1.24mn b/d of crude in November, Argus estimates. By Aydin Calik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Syria faces fuel supply conundrum

24/12/13

Syria faces fuel supply conundrum

London, 13 December (Argus) — The overthrow of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has left the country's trading relationship with Iran on an uncertain footing, putting pressure on the new transitional government to upgrade refining infrastructure and find alternative sources of fuel supply. As the Assad regime's closest ally, Iran has been Syria's main source of both crude and oil product imports since western sanctions were imposed on Damascas in the early stages of its civil war in 2011. The product shipments are difficult to track as they are carried out by Iran's 'dark fleet', but consultancy FGE estimates Iran has been sending around 10,000-20,000 b/d to Syria in recent years. Those trade flows are no longer guaranteed, given that Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS), the main militant group behind the armed revolt to topple Assad, has close ties to Iran's regional rival Turkey. Syria is now likely to import oil products from other local sources, a trading analyst told Argus . Turkey itself is an option, although one Turkish trader ruled out any immediate business plans to supply Syria. Watad, HTS' affiliated oil trading arm, has previously imported oil and gas from Turkey and has marketed gasoline thought to have come from Ukraine via Turkey, according to a regional analyst. Egypt is another possible supplier. It has enough capacity to export refined products to Syria for the time being, according to a refining source in the country. Vortexa data show gasoil was last loaded from Egypt's Sidi Kerir terminal in July. Syria's transitional government may also attempt to increase domestic supply, although that will require rehabilitating the country's 140,000 b/d Banias and 110,000 b/d Homs refineries. Run rates have halved since 2011, the IEA estimates. Only the Banias refinery is operating at a reasonable level, according to sources. Iran earlier this year proposed a €140mn revamp of the Homs refinery, which has been operating below capacity for years because of infrastructure damage incurred during the civil war . Syrian demand for oil products has seen a structural decline since the civil war, with consumption dropping by around 60pc between 2011 and 2022, according to the IEA. But with Assad's overthrow signalling a potential return of refugees from neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, demand may pick up in the coming months, intensifying pressure on the transitional administration to seek new trade flows and repair the country's refining infrastructure. By George Maher-Bonnett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Tarmac to receive bitumen at UK Dagenham terminal

24/12/13

Tarmac to receive bitumen at UK Dagenham terminal

London, 13 December (Argus) — Tarmac, one of the UK's leading road and general construction firms, will start receiving bitumen cargoes at the 20,000t capacity Dagenham bitumen terminal in southeast England in late January, market participants told Argus . The terminal, operated by trading firm Trafigura's Puma Energy unit since 2015 , is part of an oil storage facility run by Stolthaven Terminals, a subsidiary of Norwegian company Stolt-Nielsen. Puma Energy regularly imports bitumen cargoes into Dagenham from a variety of sources including its own Cadiz bitumen terminal in Spain. Some 211,000t has been imported into Dagenham this year, roughly double 2023 volumes, according to data from trade analytics firm Vortexa. The sharp rise follows Puma Energy's decision to halt operations at its bitumen barge terminal in Newport, Wales early this year. Market participants said at the time that they expected Puma Energy to increase imports into Dagenham for inward truck supply to domestic UK customers to help compensate for the Newport halt. Trafigura and Tarmac have declined to comment on the latter's bitumen purchase plans at Dagenham. It is not clear whether Trafigura will exclusively supply the volumes into the terminal for Tarmac. The constructor is understood to have struck its annual term deals for all its UK bitumen purchases for 2025, but the identity of the suppliers has not been disclosed. by Fenella Rhodes and Keyvan Hedvat Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US rail group optimistic about 2025 rail demand

24/12/12

US rail group optimistic about 2025 rail demand

Washington, 12 December (Argus) — US rail volume is likely to start strong in 2025, but railroads will need to navigate changing federal policies, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said. Volume next year hinges on a few key factors, including the resilience of consumer spending, strength in the labor market, and the trajectory of inflation and interest rates, the group said. Railroads will need to remain vigilant as these economic indicators will be critical in helping assess rail traffic and broader economic health in the months ahead, AAR said. "Strong intermodal growth and stable consumer demand offers reasons for optimism," AAR said. "But railroads and the economy alike must navigate evolving policies and potential disruptions" as the US enters 2025 under a new administration, the group said. The AAR'S optimism comes as rail traffic in November "while by no means stellar, suggests that the broader economy remains on stable footing", AAR said. US intermodal rail volume set new records in November. The increase reflected strong consumer demand following job gains that pushed increased spending, AAR said. Intermodal traffic is made up primarily of consumer goods shipped in containers between different modes of transportation, although some scrap metal and specialty agriculture products ship this way. US railroads loaded an average of 282,000 intermodal containers and trailers per week, up by 11pc from a year earlier. That was the highest weekly average for any November since AAR began tracking intermodal data in 1989. Carload traffic fell by 3.8pc compared with November 2023. Carload traffic is primarily made up of commodities. Coal was the "biggest problem", AAR said. US railroads loaded 15pc less coal last month compared with a year earlier, while year-to-date loadings were down by 14pc from the same 11 months in 2023. If coal were excluded, monthly US carload traffic in November would have notched a 10th consecutive year-on-year increase. Industrial products volume was down by 1pc from a year earlier. Manufacturing is a major driver of US carload traffic, and that sector remains sluggish, AAR said. By Abby Caplan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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